Bruce Wayne’s Gotcha Day Gift …. Genetic Preservation?!

Remember when I told you about the amazing time I had at the BlogPaws Conference this past April? I left out one of the BEST parts of the Conference. Why? Simply put, I had to get all my information correct before I blogged about it, because it is that mind blowing!

During the Conference, I took the first day to get settled in. I didn’t even do a lap through the Exhibitor Hall. That quickly changed. The following day, I had the opportunity to meet and speak with some amazing pet parents. During one of the Conference’s happy hours, a fellow pet parent told me that there was a cloning booth in the Exhibit Hall. CLONING? Yeah, ok. I instantly thought that she was referring to the infamous Cuddle Clones company that makes custom stuffed animals that look like your pet. I brushed it off as a booth that I’d eventually get to, but wasn’t in a major hurry to get over there. Holy Batman, I was wrong! If I regretted anything from my week at the Conference, it was not going to that booth sooner.

ViaGen Pets.

Two words you will want to remember: ViaGen Pets. They are on the forefront of science for us pet lovers. So, there I was walking around the Exhibit Hall the next day with Bruce Wayne and at the end of one of the rows I see a sign for ViaGen Pets. I went up and spoke with Melain and Lauren, who proceeded to tell me about ViaGen Pets and the services they offer: Genetic Preservation and Cloning. Yes, you read that right, actual preservation of your dog’s DNA and cloning!

I was immediately incredibly frustrated with myself for not visiting their booth sooner. No lie, I had looked into cloning Bruce Wayne before. I had researched it and learned that the only place at that time that was cloning dogs was in my native country, South Korea, or so I thought. While I love my homeland, I didn’t love the $100,000.00 price tag that came with it. Also, I had learned that you actually had to travel to South Korea to pick up your cloned puppy. Again, as much as I love my homeland, I physically cannot handle the long flight.

You can imagine my delight when I learned that ViaGen Pets is a United States of America based company. Not only are they U.S. based, but their laboratory is also U.S. based. No leaving the country, no having to worry about language barriers, customs, or anything else that comes along with traveling overseas these days.

Your ViaGen Pets team. Click the photo to learn more about each team member.

Genetic Preservation?

This can be best equated to how a woman would store her eggs for future use. You do not have to go to a Scientist or someone you aren’t familiar with to start the process. The genetic preservation process can be done in the comfort of your very own Veterinarian’s office. This fact alone made me feel even more comfortable about the process. If you’ve been following myself and Bruce Wayne’s adventures over the years, you know how much I love and respect our Veterinarian, Dr. Joe Zulty.

Genetic preservation is perfect for any pet parent that thinks they may want to clone their dog or cat. Even if you are on the fence a little bit, I would highly recommend having your pet’s DNA preserved. Many of us pet parents know that anything can happen at anytime unexpectedly. How many times have you been on social media and seen that a dog or cat you are following all of a sudden was in an accident, diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, or crossed over the Rainbow Bridge? It happens more times than I like to think about, but we have to be realistic and know that it could happen. That’s where this Genetic Preservation Kit comes in hand. ViaGen will ship a biopsy kit to you or your Veterinarian, along with detailed instructions for your Veterinarian. Once you complete the procedure, your pet’s DNA will be stored in a U.S. based laboratory safely waiting for your decision to initiate the cloning process. You can wait 6 months, 2 years, 6 years or more. The beauty of the preservation option is that you can proceed with the cloning on your timeline, when you are ready.

What about the procedure?

The genetic preservation process consists of 3 simple things: a cheek swab and 2 tissue samples. Sound scary? It did to me too at first. Well, the cheek swab seemed easy and quick, but I did have some concerns about how to go about getting the tissue samples, however, the ViaGen team and Dr. Zulty quickly dissipated my fears and anxieties. Melain and Lauren of ViaGen gave a great suggestion that this biopsy process could be done during your dog’s routine dental cleaning. My concern was that even though that was a great suggestion, Bruce Wayne does not need any dental cleanings. I’m lucky enough to have started brushing his teeth during his puppy days, so he may never actually need a dental cleaning. Then, Melain stated that Bruce Wayne may be able to have the biopsy done under local anesthesia, as opposed to being sedated. Melain also stated that the biopsy itself is the size of an eraser on a no. 2 pencil. It’s tiny. After talking to Dr. Zulty, he agreed that Bruce Wayne should only need local anesthesia and that the biopsy would be an outpatient procedure: quick and simple.

That’s it. Once the tissue samples and cheek swab has been taken, your Veterinarian will ship it directly to the ViaGen lab where they will record and store your pet’s DNA. How amazingly awesome is that? My mind is still blown even while I write this about how we have the science and technology to preserve our pet’s DNA!

Bruce Wayne’s Gotcha Day Gift!

If you read our last post about Bruce Wayne’s Gotcha Day, you read that I got him a gift, but it was going to be a surprise. After learning more about the services that ViaGen offers, the care and safety measures they take, talking with both the ViaGen team and my Veterinarian, I decided to go ahead and have Bruce Wayne’s DNA preserved!

Maybe one day, you will see a cloned Bruce Wayne puppy running around, or maybe you won’t. The fact that I have the power to decide when and if I go through with the cloning process is completely up to me and on my own timeline. Regardless if I decide to clone Bruce Wayne or not, I can rest assured knowing that the option is there!

Because we love sharing our daily life and milestones with you all, this will be no exception. We invite you to join us in the genetic preservation process. There is now a page entitled “Genetic Preservation of BW” within our website, which will allow you to follow our step-by-step process. As we go through this journey, you will be right there with us.

Our next update will be the week of July 10, 2017 when Bruce Wayne goes to see our Veterinarian for his simple biopsy and cheek swab. At that time, we will dive further into detail about the genetic preservation process, so that you can learn exactly what your dog or cat would experience during their genetic preservation process.

If you are as excited as I am about preserving your dog or cat’s DNA, you can order your Genetic Preservation Kit here.Tell them Bruce Wayne sent you ….. Just because it sounds funny! 😉

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Comments

This is an incredible time to be alive – I remember in the early 2000’s when human genome mapping was finally completed!

When Chloe Elle and I were in Mexico we met a molecular biologist who I thought might be able to cure the disease I live with. I decided not to undergo his therapy but one day, because of this realm of study, cures WILL be found!

Bruce Wayne was the most precious puppy – and is now such a handsome boy! You’re the best momma, LL! Thank you for helping educate pet owner masses! 💗

Thank you so much, Deidre and Ms. Chloe Elle. We’ve heard amazing things about gene therapy. You are so right in that it is an exciting time to be alive! 🙂 Medical breakthroughs are going to really help cure us all one day soon, we believe!

Thank you for your kind words and for reading our post. Your support is always so genuine and sweet! Take care! xoxo

Oh my dog! Lucy and Noah’s mom here. (@i_love_lucypie) You already know I am CRAZY about my kids, especially my first baby Lucy (sorry Noah 🙊 He’s dads favorite, so it’s ok) what you might not have known, is that I am a cell and molecular biology major! I am FASCINATED by genetics, epigenetics, and all things biology. So reading this and the Viagen website simultaneously thrilled me and made me cry!! Those customer stories though 😭😭😭 Thank you for sharing, I can’t wait to follow this process!! Love you both! (P.S. South Korea is one of my top dream vacations, my fiancé was stationed there for two years and I could eat Korean food every day for the rest of my life)

Thank you so much for checking it out Sarah and Lucy! 🙂 I’m so excited that you share the same excitement. You are much more educated than we are, lol. I don’t get all the science behind it, but from a layman’s standpoint, I find it interesting and amazing that we are making such advances. We are so excited to share our journey with you.

That’s so funny that you love Korean food. I am Korean and I don’t even eat it that much. I’ve become completely Americanized, lol.

Stay tuned to our IG and blog, we will have some fun giveaways coming with ViaGen in the future. If you have any other questions, I will be happy to answer as many as I can. 🙂

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